My First Day In Paris

Bonjour!

As I sit here and stare out my window at eighteenth-century French architecture, with the long, thin windows and shutters, flowers dangling from the wrought-iron railing of the balconies, drinking a bottle of Kronenbourg (for which I was not I.D.ed - I love this country), I still can't believe it. I am finally in Paris, France! It hits me about every five minutes, when I realize where I am and I want to scream (with joy).

France is a very unique, to say the least. I have learned so many lessons just in one day of being in this city. For starters, Paris is a very scary place to cross the street. Just today, I've been almost hit by two buses, a motorcycle, and a Smart Car. My advice: cross when the locals cross, and try to keep up. Also, the layout of the streets aren't in any kind of pattern whatsoever. This city is two thousand years old and has been expanding ever since, with random roads popping up in random places with no consideration for patterns or just generally making any sense. Kaylin and I walked around for several hours today discovering just how randomly this ancient city was built.

I have never seen a real, live nun in my entire life and today in Paris I think I have probably seen in the neighborhood of twenty. The dormitory in which I am staying is run by nuns and outside of that, when walking along the streets of Paris, nuns are everywhere. If you are trying to cross the street, cross with a nun, because even though Parisian drivers will zoom past you like you're not even there, they will cause a wreck to avoid hitting a nun. Apparently hitting a nun is some bad ju-jo.


Our dormitory is amazing. It is a building that is probably two hundred years old, just like the buildings across the street. Kaylin and I are on the fourth floor and we had to carry fifty pounds worth of baggage up all those flights of stairs, because apparently in Paris, elevators are the exception. But we have a wonderful view of apartments across the street and the insane traffic below (we've already witnessed one wreck today involving a car and a motorcycle).

We went to a cafe this afternoon called L'Horizon Cafe et Brasserie. I ate the best french onion soup that I have ever had in my life. The waiter was negligent, cold and sometimes just down right rude. He was everything that I expected in a French waiter and I loved it. He only comes to my table when I summon him, which in my opinion is way better than being harrassed by a waiter every few minutes that I am eating.

Ah, I could really get used to this place.